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Since Major League Baseball gained a foothold in the nation's capital at the turn of the century, the league is exploiting a mystery of politics in America: Influence is incredibly cheap. Over the past 17 years, the commission, through its Political Action Committee, has donated just over $ 3.7 million to 321 members of Congress, based on an analysis of federal election results. from Yahoo Sports. For less than a season of the average salary of a single baseball player, the league has seduced Senators and members of the House, Republicans and Democrats, both men and women, a few thousand dollars at a time, in the hope that one day their power will work in the league. favor.
On March 22, the strategy was largely repaid. Late in the night, Congress inserted a two-paragraph provision – ridiculously called Saver's America's Pastime Act – in the 1 967 page of its $ 1.3 billion spending bill. Two years earlier, a bill of the same name had been dismissed as a result of a public outcry – wanting to make the least-paid law caricature of minor baseball players – pushed one of the his coauthors to wash his hands almost immediately. Now, all these donations, and the millions of dollars the league spent on lobbying, provided an interesting return on investment. The pursuit of fair wages for minor league players now came up against the codified law.
All the success of the league in Washington has made its recent fall even more calamitous, especially because of its damage far beyond Capitol Hill. Populardale's revelation of Judd Legum this weekend, according to which the league recently donated $ 5,000 to Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Including tinged remarks about racism about lynching and of the repression of the voters became the central point of his race. Out of the elections on Tuesday against Democratic challenger Mike Espy, the league asked Hyde-Smith to return the donation.
In addition, multiple sources close to the situation told Yahoo Sports, MLB asked Hyde-Smith to return two previous donations, made June 30 and September 30, for a total amount of $ 5,000. While these came before his infamous comment – in which Hyde-Smith evoked the brutal story of the lynchings in Mississippi saying a supporter: "I would fight a circle seen for him; if he invited me to a public hanging, I would be in the first row "- the recent donation was made as the first reports on Hyde-Smith's words began to circulate.
The Major League Baseball recently donated $ 5,000 to Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Whose tinged about racism about lynching and suppression of voters became the central point of his second round against the Democratic challenger Mike Espy. (AP)
When a lobbyist working for MLB was unable to attend a fundraiser hosted by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in mid-November, the league was asked to donate money. money in Hyde-Smith, sources said. The league cut the check for the Hyde-Smith campaign on November 12 and 13, two sources told Yahoo Sports – a day or two after lynching comments were first released by the Jackson Free Press . The campaign reported the contribution in a document filed on November 24.
MLB is one of at least nine companies – including Google, Ernst & Young, Pfizer, Boston Scientific and AT & T – who have asked Hyde-Smith to return its contributions since Legum published this information.
Ugliness is particularly acute for the MLB because of the way the league's efforts to celebrate its diverse history and recruit young black players go against its support for a candidate who attended a so-called academy of segregation in Mississippi. Although Hyde-Smith is not the only candidate accused of racism to whom the league has made a donation – he donated $ 1,000 in 2004 and 2006 to Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), according to records of contributions to the campaign – the supercharged political climate creates an emphasis on league distribution of PAC funds.
The league's supervision will certainly tighten, according to sources, particularly with the ease with which the donation to Hyde-Smith after lynching comments could have been avoided. The last time the league flopped so clearly in Washington, it was during the hearings on steroids, under former commissioner Bud Selig. His successor, Rob Manfred, had avoided political storms.
If the current conflagration can bring something positive, it will encourage all the more to strengthen the commitment of the league in favor of vital causes. Among the racist tweets, the ridiculous comments of the advertisers and now, the MLB has unloaded half a pistol in his foot this year. It takes more resources, more staff and, above all, more commitment from the higher echelons so that the league's efforts are not simply a staging that pleases the public.
Because companies committed to the ideals of inclusion do not pay $ 5,000 to a senator who refers to lynchings in a deplorable state of affairs while opposing a black candidate. Regardless of how the MLB distributed its contributions – 56.6% of its donations to candidates went to Democrats this year. Since 2002 she has given $ 1.28 million to Democrats and $ 1.1 million to Republicans – nothing can clear the spot of money paid to Hyde-Smith.
Asking the MLB to recover $ 10,000 is a good start. Taking this $ 10,000 and donating it to a cause that helps celebrate the rich history of baseball and black culture – perhaps the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum – would be a reasonable reorientation of funds. And maybe instead of breaking millions of dollars against politicians hoping to cure some minor ailments or spoil tiny wheels, the MLB can put its money where it is and woo boys and girls black and brown, a few thousand dollars a time, hoping that someday they will see baseball as he wants.
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